The fossil beds of the Great
Plains and other parts of the
West contain eloquent proofs of
the richness and variety of mam
mal life on this continent at dif
ferent periods in the past. Per
haps the most wonderful of all
these ancient faunas was that re
vealed by the bones of birds and
mammals which had been trapped
in the asphalt pits recently dis
covered in the outskirts of Los
Angeles, California. These bones
show that prior to the arrival of
the present fauna the plains of
southern California swarmed
with an astonishing wealth of
strange birds and beasts (see
page 401).
The most notable of these are
saber-toothed tigers, lions much
larger than those of Africa;
giant wolves; several kinds of
bears, including the huge cave
bears, even larger than the gi
gantic brown bears of Alaska; INTRO
large wild horses; camels; bison
(unlike our buffalo) ; tiny ante-
"Howd
lope, the size of a fox; masto-
"What
dons, mammoths with tusks 15
feet long; and giant ground sloths; in
addition to many other species, large and
small.
With these amazing mammals were
equally strange birds, including, among
numerous birds of prey, a giant vulture
like species (far larger than any condor),
peacocks, and many others.
DID MAN LIVE THEN?
The geologically recent existence of
this now vanished fauna is evidenced by
the presence in the asphalt pits of bones
of the gray fox, the mountain lion, and
close relatives of the bobcat and coyote,
as well as the condor, which still frequent
that region, and thus link the past with
the present. The only traces of the an
cient vegetation discovered in these as
phalt pits are a pine and two species of
juniper, which are members of the exist
ing flora.
There is reason for believing that prim
itive man occupied California and other
parts of the West during at least the lat
ter part of the period when the fauna of
the asphalt pits still flourished. Dr. C.
Hart Merriam informs me that the folk-
Photograph by L. Peterson
DUCING A LITTLE BLACK BEAR TO A LITTLE
BROWN BEAR AT SEWARD, ALASKA
.y -do! I ain't got a bit of use for you!"
do I care! You'd better back away, black bear !"
lore of the locally restricted California
Indians contains detailed descriptions of
a beast which is unmistakably a bison,
probably the bison of the asphalt pits.
The discovery in these pits of the bones
of a gigantic vulturelike bird of prey of
far greater size than the condor is even
more startling, since the folk-lore of the
Eskimos and Indians of most of the tribes
from Bering Straits to California and the
Rocky Mountain region abound in tales
of the "thunder-bird"-a gigantic bird of
prey like a mighty eagle, capable of carry
ing away people in its talons. Two such
coincidences suggest the possibility that
the accounts of the bison and the "thun
der-bird" are really based on the originals
of the asphalt beds and have been passed
down in legendary history through many
thousands of years.
CAMELS AND HORSES ORIGINATED IN
NORTH AMERICA
Among other marvels our fossil beds
reveal the fact that both camels and
horses originated in North America.
The remains of many widely different
species of both animals have been found
399